Start Small, Stay Wild: Lolita Sene on Winemaking Without Compromise
Interview with Arlene Stein
Lolita Sene is a vigneron who owns a small vineyard in Gard, a department in southern France's Occitanie region. She began her winemaking journey in 2018 with just 1,800 bottles and now produces over 8,000 annually. True to her philosophy—"Start small, stay small"—she's committed to never exceeding 10,000 bottles.
Everything Lolita does is done by hand, from working in the vineyard, which is entirely hand-harvested, to designing her own labels. She uses a traditional clique press, gently crushes the grapes by foot, and fills barrels one bucket at a time. Bottling is done on a modest four-spout machine. She is focused on minimal intervention - making her wines exclusively from organically farmed grapes, with no fining, no filtering, and zero added sulfur.
Arlene: You transitioned from being an artistic director at a nightclub in Paris to becoming a winemaker in Gard. What was the turning point that made you want to pursue a career in wine?
Lolita: Before working in nightlife, I was in a preparatory math course with a cinema option in a scientific track. When I wanted to return to school, I asked myself: what could combine partying and science? That's how I found a sommelier program on Google. I enrolled in the agronomy school SupAgro, which specialized in enology, and I did a work-study placement in a wine bar. Then, I earned a master's degree at a business school in Paris. After that, I worked as a wine merchant in Paris and then as a sommelier in Vancouver. At the same time, I was already writing—I had a wine blog. Le Petit Futé sent me to Canada and the United States to update their guide. When all that ended, I was 30 and wanted to settle differently, leave the city, and make my own wine. In 2018, I bought my first vineyard plot, was given some barrels, and shared a cellar with other winemakers—and the adventure began!
“Grenache, Syrah, Clairette—those are the tastes of my coming of age, the first wines I ever tasted. If I had settled in the Loire, I would have felt like a stranger in my own country.”
Arlene: Your motto is "start small, stay small." How does this philosophy shape your approach to winemaking and your choices in the vineyard and cellar? Is there any value in scale?
Lolita: This philosophy came to me immediately when I decided to settle down. I didn't want to approach wine with grand ambitions—hundreds of hectares, massive machinery. The idea was to be able to do everything by hand to focus on precision and detail, a bit like haute couture. Staying a small-scale producer allows me to be rarer and spark curiosity and desire.
Arlene: You work organically and rely on traditional, manual techniques. What are the biggest challenges and rewards of making wine in such an artisanal way? Do you think wine drinkers appreciate this approach?
Lolita: I don't make wine to please others—I make wine to please myself. My goal is to create a drinkable wine with as few flaws as possible but as natural as possible. I work organically but don't have the AB label; I'm not certified. I hate being asked to justify myself or prove my work in the vineyard. So I decided to stay free and make wine on my own terms—no label, no logo. I no longer want to be associated with the natural wine movement, which I often find to be too punk-cokehead-bobo-hipster. I can't stand having my wine and work shoved into a box. This is my story—not that of a movement.
Arlene: Gard has become a hub for a new wave of natural winemakers. What makes this region unique to you, and how do you see it evolving in the natural wine movement?
Lolita: I grew up in the Gard. I was born in Montpellier, but in 1999, my family moved to Nîmes. I lived there until the end of my preparatory studies before moving to Paris. So, coming back to my region to make wine felt natural. Grenache, Syrah, Clairette—those are the tastes of my coming of age, the first wines I ever tasted. If I had settled in the Loire, I would have felt like a stranger in my own country.
Arlene: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about the future of wine in France?
Lolita: For now, I don't have a very positive outlook on what's happening. The wine economy is in full decline—we're seeing massive vineyards uprooting plans, and the viticultural landscape is changing. Maybe we're heading toward more diversity with olive tree plantations and vegetable farming. Consumption needs to pick up again—people shouldn't be afraid of wine, which is a part of our heritage. French culture is wine and gastronomy—not kombucha and gluten-free pasta… Let's hope France starts drinking and eating again!
We will get to samples wines from the Gard on our upcoming trip to Occitanie. Join us in June!